If someone were to walk into the Sensoriums right now, they could expect a drop right into a pool of warm water. If and when they reach the surface, they'll find themselves surrounded by lush, tropical scenery. A waterfall pours gently into the pool, flowering palm trees surround them, a rather large man's painting the scene, fish flutter in the water, and the rocks have just a touch of green moss or something covering them.

...One of these things doesn't fit.

If everyone guessed 'Apollo painting crap', they win a No-Prize. Indeed, everyone's favorite (unless you like women) member of the Authority is staring at the scene, chewing on the end of the paintbrush. Or, rather, he had been before the splash. Now he's just staring at the water, end of the brush still tucked into the corner of his mouth, and the pallet for the paints held in his free hand.

"...Watch the first step?"

First, he had to hit Engineering to talk to this Billy fellow--and cross his fingers and hope for the best. This wasn't Metrocity, he hadn't saved the day here and worked for the peoples' trust, and while he'd read that Constitution about people not being punished for past crimes that didn't necessarily mean there wouldn't be attitudes of distrust and the like.

There was, of course, the option of lying about his former villainhood, but good guys weren't supposed to do that, right? And with Roxanne not remembering that he'd reformed, all he'd need was for her to mention he was a villain, and then he'd have to explain the whole thing, and then it would get all messy.

It was better people knew ahead of time. It was better that got their judging...thing out of the way ahead of time, especially if he was trying to work under them.

So off to Engineering he went. Now that he was fairly certain he didn't have anyone to intimidate, he wasn't wearing his cape or the collar, hoping to look as normal as possible.

Of course, on the way there, and afterward, he nosed around into many a place on the ship to look around, often blurting out "Incredible!" "Magnificent!" "Do you see that? That is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" and other such exclamations at the wonders he saw. The ship was a beaut, a techno-organic masterpiece!

[ooc: You can catch him poking around just about anywhere on the ship, although his jaunt to Engineering comes first chronologically. Just specify where he ran into your guy.]</font

The Sensoriums open up to an amazing scene. A long hallway, with no seeming end, and large windows depicting billions of floating heads stuck together. Sleeping. The world that telepaths visit and share when they dream.

There's an open doorway, with noise and light coming from it. As one turns the corner, they can see three couches in a semi-circle around a large collection of televisions. Standing in one of the couches, with a bowl of popcorn under one arm and gesticulating wildly with the other, is Apollo. "YES! YES! THAT'S IT! CRAWL! CRAWL TO VICTORY AND BITE HIS KNEES OFF!" The source of his amusement fills several of the gigantic television screens in front of him.

That's right. One of the most powerful people on his planet is cheering to a fight on Jerry Springer. Not just any fight, though. A midget fight.

His face feels like a raw steak. From what he'd seen in his reflection, 'hamburger' might be a better description. It's not the worst of the pain in his body, compared to the broken ribs that feel like ground glass whenever he breathes, but it's the most visible. If it were just the pain, he could handle it, but he's drained, physically and mentally. He knows what he needs, a quick jaunt near a sun, but getting this airlock door to open is easier said than done.

He pounds on it again, weakly. "Just need a bit of sun. Open up."

||You must report to medical. Your condition is-||

"I know my condition." He turns around and slumps against the wall, sliding down until he's sitting. "And I'm telling you, all I need is some sunlight."

||You must report to medical.||

"You're as bad as the Midnighter." He scowls at a wall, then lets his head droop a bit. "I don't need medical."

Nightmare becomes reality....

_{[roster: Leader - Kang, Apollo, Marco, Russel Tringham, Supergirl, Tali]}

Leaning back in his chair, Apollo stretches while giving out a loud yawn. He'd holed himself up in the Sensoriums, leaving the entrance open in case someone really wanted to use them, for a few hours. A large stack of paper was in front of him, and the table and floor around him was littered with various bits of crumpled... No, folded paper. Paper crabs, paper cranes, paper frogs, paper bugs... He's obviously been busy. In his hand, held between two fingers, is the start of another folded paper project.

He looks at the paper and sets it down, leaning over the back of his chair and letting his arms hang loosely for a bit. He's been at this for too long, but somehow the whole 'wait for a crewmember to stop by the most popular part of the ship for a bit of conversation' plan failed. "Maybe I should have tried the cafeteria?"

Slowly but surely, the nightmares have been chipping away at the mental defenses of the crew.

Even those who attempt to stay awake to avoid the nightmares find themselves too on-edge to completely concentrate their defenses.

And the Nightmare King has not been idle during all this, no. He has been slowly feeding off the crew, gathering his strength so that he may yet break free from his prison.

And he now uses that new found power, reaching out to affect the minds of the crew even in the waking world. Even those avoiding sleep will find themselves drifting in and out of their nightmares, bringing everyone a taste of despair.

After all, no one can escape the grasp of the King of Nightmares.

No one.

[ooc: OH NOEZ. As you can guess, the Nightmare King is getting stronger. As such, the crew will start experiencing waking dreams. These are much more subtle than the normal nightmares, however, and are more so depressing and surreal than actually brain-breaking. Mostly they would be miserable versions of the character's normal life, or perhaps even their life on the ship.]

Erwin had spent enough time exploring the ship to discover the media library. At first he had spent so much time simply reading books he'd missed or reading new books he'd never seen or heard of before. That had taken time. Then, slowly, his curiosity had turned to visual media. At first he had been amazed and overawed by the pictures produced sixty years in his future - sharp color, focus. Amazing special effects. It all seemed so real to him. His attention had shifted again. His curiosity got the better of him. He began watching old newsreels - German, Russian, American, British - about the war. He'd never worked up the nerve to discover if what Robert had told him about the Jews as true. In a way, he didn't want to know.

Still, he'd eventually reached the end of the war. So he sat, stonefaced, as he watched Germany crumble. When he could, he watched the raw footage. When he couldn't, he watched newsreels. It was depressing in away - to learn how the war would've ended. How the Allies swept over France and the Russians raped and looted their way through Germany. How depressing.

He was watching one of the later German newsreels about Berlin. He sighed softly. Maybe he would never see his homeland again. Maybe that would be for the best. German divided into a communist state and an rump republic? Better then national death, he supposed. He flicked over to another reel of footage. The Battle of Kursk. He hadn't been there, but he'd heard about it. What an utter waste. He leaned forward, watching the black and white footage intently, remembering everything he'd ever done and all that he'd gone through.

Life seemed to enjoy doing this to Tony Stark. Get him settled, if not content then at least accustomed, and then turn everything on its head.
It hadn't taken long to find the Iron Man armour- but once he had it in his hands, it was hard to remember why he'd gone looking for it.

No, this time Tony was quite content to sit on the sidelines and let someone else try their hand at guiding the course of events, futurist or not. Let someone else see if they could do better. The ship was obviously entirely capable of running herself, with those pulled out of podsleep there for little more than lawn-trimming duty. What the hell was the point of having a crew if they weren't going to be allowed to do anything useful?
And so here he was, back at square one. With a hell of a lot more to give than things that exploded and maimed, frustrated that all he would ever be remembered for, even here, were his mistakes- but this time he just didn't have the will to try again.

He'd been planning to set up some kind of workshop somewhere, take the suit apart, give it a servicing and pick up as close to where he'd left off as possible. Instead he found himself hefting the suitcase containing the compacted armour through the city, not really sure where he was going or why, his feet leading him aimlessly through what felt like a collection of buildings for a giant museum exhibit rather than any real city that had been built for inhabitation.
They were like relics, all of them. Preserved, living specimens.
Exhibit n, Anthony Edward 'Tony' Stark, the Iron Man.

High above him, the holographically projected sky shimmered, clouds passing overhead in an elaborate pretense, for a purpose he didn't understand. Focusing, he attempted futilely to perceive the ceiling beyond, trying not to think too hard about the last words Steve had hurled at his back.

Was it worth it?

And for the first time, the answer was completely obvious.
Here, in the Bleed, where the Super-Human Registration Act, the Avengers, SHIELD, Norman Osborn, Stamford and everything else that had contributed to the inevitable lost all meaning?

No.
It had all been for no lasting reason at all.

Everyone had been so nice to Ryo since he had awoken a day prior. He wanted to show his appreciation to his friends and the crew, and get a chance to meet others. So, he walked back into the sensoriums and imagined a place. As he opened his eyes, there was the Milk Dipper. Wood finish, stars decorating the place, rough hewn wooden tables and the telescope in it's pedestal at the center. Everything was as it should be, except for one thing. Behind the counter, looking very confused, was a green-skinned demon who bore no resemblance to Airi. Ryo registered his shock as the demon spoke.

"This... is NOT my bar..." The green one said, his own shock evident. He looked at Ryo. "And you're not Peter..." Ryo, not knowing what to do, bowed quickly.

"I'm sorry, Oni-san, I just wanted to throw a party for everyone, with karaoke and dancing, and I didn't mean to summon you!" The demon shook his head, waving Ryo off.

"It's Lorne, and you had me at karaoke. Now, this place.... I like it. Kind of a kitsch-meets-class thing going on... It does need to be bigger, though..." Lorne snapped his fingers and the cafe expanded, now as large as an auditorium. The telescope pedestal sat firmly in the center of a well-polished dance floor, underneath a disco ball and lighting set up. To the left of the counter was a stage with a karoake set-up, and behind the counter was now a lot more than just coffee. Otherwise, the decor remained the same.

"Alright, Ryo-kun." Lorne said with a smile. "Give everyone the heads up and get this party started." Ryo nodded, amazed by the demon's abilities, and gave a call on the omnicomms.

[[ OOC: It's karaoke dance party time! Start a sub-thread with your character singing a song, socializing, or just being a wallflower, and let the CR flow! Especially great for newbies to meet folk and influence people!]]

[ooc: Newbie Helpers List | Instructions: Post your character with one post establishing them as being podpopped. Tag each other in groups of 2's, 3's, and 4's, to get some interaction to start with. If a thread doesn't already have 2 or 3 people tagged in, tag it with your character's podpop popping near the other people, rather than making a new subthread. If you would like to play out them talking to the AI, please send an email to the mods making the request--we do this only by request. Then move onto the big Newbie Meeting. Once your character has gotten the rundown from the old crew, you may start posting entrance posts and freely tagging.]


||Pod Release Protocols Initating|| Stacy's familiar voice sounds out to all the podmates through the ship.

In the Pod Caverns, there are the sounds of: Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

There is condensation and mist spraying out from cracks in the pods, as the people inside slide out onto the floors, covered in slime.

--

( There was nothing... )

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. New crew-mates might see a green-skinned alien and snake girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]